Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

Home Page: Quantum Study Bible

Jeremiah 20

The Word of God to Pashhur

Jeremiah 20:¹ Now Pashhur the son of Immer, the priest who was also chief governor in the house of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ), heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.

Jeremiah 20:² Then Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ).

Jeremiah 20:³ And it happened on the next day that Pashhur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord has not called your name Pashhur, but Magor-Missabib (Lit. Fear on Every Side).

Jeremiah 20:⁴ For thus says the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ): ‘Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes shall see it. I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive to Babylon and slay them with the sword.

Jeremiah 20:⁵ Moreover I will deliver all the wealth of this city, all its produce, and all its precious things; all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will give into the hand of their enemies, who will plunder them, seize them, and carry them to Babylon.

Jeremiah 20:⁶ And you, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. You shall go to Babylon, and there you shall die, and be buried there, you and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied lies.’ ”

Jeremiah’s Unpopular Ministry

Jeremiah 20:⁷ O Lord (Yᵊhōvâ), You induced (enticed or persuaded) me, and I was persuaded;
You are stronger than I, and have prevailed.
I am in derision daily (Lit. a laughingstock all the day);
Everyone mocks me.

• Like Jesus, Jeremiah was mocked.
  
  • Matthew 27:29 When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
  • Matthew 27:31 And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.

Jeremiah 20:⁸ For when I spoke, I cried out;
I shouted, “Violence and plunder!”
Because the word of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) was made to me
A reproach and a derision daily.

Jeremiah 20:⁹ Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him,
Nor speak anymore in His name.”
But His word was in my heart like a burning fire
Shut up in my bones;
I was weary of holding it back,
And I could not.

Jeremiah 20:¹⁰ For I heard many mocking (slandering):
“Fear on every side!”
“Report,” they say, “and we will report it!”
All my acquaintances watched for my stumbling, saying,
“Perhaps he can be induced;
Then we will prevail against him,
And we will take our revenge on him.”

Jeremiah 20:¹¹ But the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) is with me as a mighty, awesome One.
Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and will not prevail.
They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper.
Their everlasting confusion will never be forgotten.

Jeremiah 20:¹² But, O Lord of hosts (Yᵊhōvâ ṣāḇā’),
You who test the righteous,
And see the mind (Most secret parts, lit) and heart,
Let me see Your vengeance on them;
For I have pleaded my cause before You.

Jeremiah 20:¹³ Sing to the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ)! Praise the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ)!
For He has delivered the life of the poor
From the hand of evildoers.

• In spite of Jeremiah’s sufferings he gives praise to the Lord.

Jeremiah 20:¹⁴ Cursed be the day in which I was born!
Let the day not be blessed in which my mother bore me!

• Job also cursed his birth.
  
  • Job 3:1 (Job Deplores His Birth) After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. “May the day perish on which I was born, and the night in which it was said, a male child is conceived.’ ⁴ May that day be darkness; May God above not seek it, Nor the light shine upon it. ⁵ May darkness and the shadow of death claim it; May a cloud settle on it; May the blackness of the day terrify it. ⁶ As for that night, may darkness seize it; May it not rejoice (be joined) among the days of the year, May it not come into the number of the months. ⁷ Oh, may that night be barren! May no joyful shout come into it! ⁸ May those curse it who curse the day, those who are ready to arouse Leviathan. ⁹ May the stars of its morning be dark; May it look for light, but have none, And not see the dawning of the day (eyelids of the dawn); ¹⁰ Because it did not shut up the doors of my mother’s womb, Nor hide sorrow from my eyes. ¹¹ “Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish (expire) when I came from the womb?
    
• Note: Leviathan is Satan, the sea monster who lives in the sea of people. Cursing arouses (excites) him.
  • Job 3:8 May those curse it who curse the day, Those who are ready to arouse Leviathan.
  • Job 41:24 His heart is as hard as stone, even as hard as the lower millstone.
  • Job 41: He beholds every high thing; He is king over all the children of pride.”
  • Isaiah 27:1 Israel Will Be Restored – In that day the Lord with His severe sword, great and strong, Will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent; And He will slay the reptile that is in the sea (of people).

Jeremiah 20:¹⁵ Let the man be cursed
Who brought news to my father, saying,
“A male child has been born to you!”
Making him very glad.

Jeremiah 20:¹⁶ And let that man be like the cities
Which the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) overthrew, and did not relent;
Let him hear the cry in the morning
And the shouting at noon,

Jeremiah 20:¹⁷ Because he did not kill me from the womb,
That my mother might have been my grave,
And her womb always enlarged with me.

• Reference Verse: Job 3:11 “Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish when I came from the womb?

Jeremiah 20:¹⁸ Why did I come forth from the womb to see labor (toil) and sorrow,
That my days should be consumed with shame?